SUP Sections 5-8

 The Map, of Course!

For those of you who have never seen or studied a map of Bainbridge Island, this has been my guide for plotting my SUP course.  The red X's with circles around them are the launch and landing locations, along with notations on who accompanied me, the date, start time, and length of time it took to complete each section.  As you can see, I have currently completed twelve of the fourteen sections, with a final section I plan to complete on September 6th.  Friends and family will join me for my final paddle from Hawley Cove Park back to Strawberry Plant Park.     

Section #5 with Karen Connors and Sue Constan

July 14th, 2020 at 2:15pm

The Ellis' to The Daniels house, 1.5 hours

On July 14th, I set off with two SUP adventurists, Karen and Sue.  As you may recall, Karen agreed to accompany me on one of my SUP sections after our chance boat encounter the day of my maiden voyage.  I was also lucky enough to recruit Sue after running into her on the beach a couple weeks prior, as she was finishing up a paddle in Eagle Harbor on her SUP.  

That's Bear, the Ellis' fearless Pomeranian dog on my SUP going for a ride.  In case you are wondering, he did not accompany us as you can see from the following photo.  Bear is not on my board, just more 'cold beverages' thanks to Ann, which I secured on my bow for the end of an epic paddle of both strength and positive attitude from my SUP companions!  

As we launched from Ann's beach, I heard her say that the winds can kick up around the point at 3pm.  I was certainly not prepared for what was around the corner and out of view from what we could see on our boards.  Take a look at the calm and non-threatening water in the photos as we set out on our paddle at 2:15pm, just before high tide as you can see on the Tides chart below. 

I knew that paddling through Rich Passage, a narrow body of water running through Point White and the mainland, it would be necessary to launch at slack tide.  Slack tide is a short period in a body of tidal water when the water is completely unstressed, and there is no movement either way in the tidal stream, and occurs before the direction of the tidal stream reverses.  What I didn't realize until later, was that this period of time does not necessarily correspond with the time of a high or low tide, particularly in constricted waters like Rich Passage!  In retrospect, Im not sure if the winds that did indeed pick up as we rounded Point White on our SUPs, or if the water current which I now know turned out not to be in our favor, played into how difficult it became to paddle forward!  In fact, I believe at one point I was wondering if I might be going backwards, as I set my gaze on a point at the shoreline and paddled with all my might!  Nevertheless, the three of us managed to keep up a lively conversation up until this point, catching up with the news of our kids and the new realities of our Covid lives.  By the time we managed to get to the Point White dock with all three of us on our knees, Karen had pulled ahead of us. I yelled over the wind to Karen and Sue, pointing ahead to our friends the Daniels beach.  This is where I decided we would finish our paddle instead of trying to push through the strong headwind to our original destination at the Fletcher Bay shore access.  Fortunately, Nicole Daniels was on their beach and greeted us as we explained our predicament.  She invited us to hang out on their beach and drink our 'sun-warmed beverages' while we continued to share stories with one another.  Since we had dropped my truck at our original landing at Fletcher Bay, we decided to walk back to the Ellis' together along the Crystal Springs road, leaving our SUPs behind, and extending our summer day of exercise and adventure with that feeling of being young and carefree again!  It was after this section of my circumnavigation that I decided my journey was not about the distance covered, rather the length of time and exertion from point A to point B!  In this case it took us the same amount of time it would have to cover twice the distance as we had traveled.  Then of course there is the quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson which I am working on manifesting these days:  'It's not the destination, but the journey'.  

Section #6 with Maureen and Nicole Daniels and Audrey Curran

July 23rd, 2020 at 3:30pm

The Daniels to Fletcher Bay Landing

It was not a surprise that my next SUP companions would be the Daniels since we had serendipitously landed on their beach the week before!  I knew this would be the section that I would ask my daughter Audrey to accompany me, since after all Nicole was one of her besties!  I am struck by how different the color and depth of our NW waters can appear, depending on the how the sky looks on any given day.  On this day, the low lying clouds of grey and white covered the sky, mirroring the same colors onto the surface of the water which casted a dark shadowy effect.  The feel of this effect on our perception of the external temperature is also interesting to note.  Both my daughter and I wondered if we had dressed warmly enough for this day, with temperatures in the high 60s.  Surprisingly, once team mother/daughter were out on the water we warmed right up, setting out on an incoming tide with no wind and a nice current that would carry us effortlessly to the next section at Fletcher Bay Landing.  Us mothers gabbed for the entire hour sharing our own health and healing stories, as our daughters separated together on their SUPs beyond ear shot, sharing something just as important with each other Im sure! 

Section #7 with Serena Matthews

July 30th, 2020 at 6:30pm

Fletcher Bay Landing to Battle Point, 2 hours

Serena and I launched on an 80 degree evening, timing our paddle with the anticipation of a sunset on the West side of the Island, and wow did we hit it right!  This section of my circumnavigation brought us around a sandy point and into the long and narrow protected harbor of Fletcher Bay.  Paddling around the harbor to the right, we followed the shoreline catching a glimpse of a deer on the mud flats and a family of raccoons on the beach digging around for their clam dinner.  Serena is my go-to girlfriend with a beautiful spirit and can-do attitude, and always up for any type of adventure.  She encourages me in a good way to do things like this...

Ta da!  This is my first, and maybe not my last Warrior yoga pose on my SUP, with the sun setting over the Olympic Mountain range.  Ive done other yoga poses on my board before, but this one takes the cake since your center of balance on your feet is front to back and not side to side.  I came very close to falling into the water, only able to hold this pose for a couple seconds before falling forward onto my board!  At this point, it may be good to mention my SUP 'rules' which I have been making up along the way!  #1:  If I fall into the water, I have to go back to the beginning and start all over again.  #2:  If my SUP companion falls into the water, we go back to the previous launch point and start our paddle over again.  #3  Potty breaks need to be done by hanging off the board into the water - Im actually not sure how this works, since fortunately no one has had to go while on their SUP!  #4:  If you see a seal, you need to call out, 'hello friend', otherwise it may turn on you!  #5:  No beaching or touching the shore with the SUPs until we arrive at the next landing point.   Of course these rules are only meant to keep us on our toes, quite literally... and also to be broken if necessary!  My SUP has taught me a lot this summer about balance, strength, flexibility and lowering expectations of myself and others as I navigate my way through this precious life I have and am able to share with some pretty incredible people along the way!     

    

How lucky are we to live on an island that provides so much recreation and natural beauty?!  Speaking of natural beauty, check out Serena and the full moon rising above her head in the blue of the sky...

While the sun sinks down in front of my feet on the bow of the SUP over the trees and mountains, casting a spray of orange rays out over the water.

We lingered on our boards near the shore on Battle Point and watched the sun sink down, wondering where the Skinner Road shore access landing area was.  I used my phone to call my husband Brendan who was picking us up there.  As I beached my board and began walking over the pebbly sandbar of Battle Point to the other side to get my bearings, I realized we still had a ways to paddle around the point and down the shoreline.  I also realized that rule #5 had just been broken, since I had beached my board before the landing point!  This did not seem to matter at the time, since we were savoring the last rays of the sunset while paddling toward where Brendan was waiting on the shore.   We spotted a momma seal and her new born pup resting on a wooden float, and also our friend Dan Gallagher who was swimming ahead of us toward shore.  As we got closer, he emerged out of the water donning a Speedo and swim cap exclaiming how warm the water was that evening!  As we climbed ashore, Brendan grabbed both paddle boards under each arm and walked them some distance to the truck, and Serena and I were very grateful :) 

        

Section #8 with Rachel Hofer

August 5th, 2020 at 6pm

Battle Point to Little Manzanita, 2 hours

This is Rachel, my neighbor, new young friend - 10 years my junior, and one of my 'Bosom Buddies'!  Included in this introduction, Rachel deserves a special recognition for being a SUP newbie, and my first companion to kneel on her board for the entire 2 hour paddle, with no complaints!  It's a new technique that I call, 'Kneel Up Paddle boarding'.  Truth be told, we both started out paddling on our knees, because the open water was particularly choppy this evening.  It wasn't until we rounded the corner into Big Manzanita Bay, when the water calmed down enough to stand up.  By then, we had been kneeling for close to an hour, which is a feat in itself requiring the use of your thigh muscles to balance your body instead of your feet to help secure and balance your weight.  Rachel give standing up a good try, but by this time her legs were shaky and tired from kneeling so long that standing wasn't an option.  I enjoyed our time on the water sharing our common bond of going through breast cancer and supporting each other.  Rachel has taught me to look at all my options outside of the western approach to curing cancer, including Ayurvedic Naturopathic Medicine as well as dietary and lifestyle changes.          

 

Another beautiful day on the KUPs/SUPs, as we paddled up to a very high tide at the Little Manzanita shore access.  Thank you Rachel for sharing your courage and perseverance both on and off the paddle board!